Japanese bio-terrorist experts warned Thursday how easily the deadly anthrax bacteria can be cultivated and spread -- after all it has been used in Japan before.
"It's relatively easy to obtain anthrax," said Dr Nobuhiko Okabe, director of Japan's Infectious Disease Surveillance Centre (IDSC), the coordinating hub for any outbreaks of infectious outbreaks in the country.
"Anthrax itself is stable and easy to carry. So for someone who has bacteriological knowledge, it's not very difficult to spread."
Disciples of the fanatical Aum Supreme Truth cult used it in the summer of 1994 in the populous Koto Ward of Tokyo, although it only resulted in complaints of a terrible smell.
One follower, Hideki Oka, 24, admitted to the act while on trial in December 1995 for the deadly sarin gas attack in Tokyo in March that year. "On the orders of defendant Shoko Asahara, we dispersed bacteria in the neighborhood to kill the local residents," Oka said at his trial.
Tokyo police later positively identified the agent as anthrax, an infectious bacteria that causes high fevers and breathing difficuties, and which often leads to death, especially if inhaled.
People can also contract anthrax through the skin and the intestines.
According to Kanawaga University professor Keiichi Tsuneishi, a specialist in the disarmament of biological and chemical weapons, anthrax can be found naturally in the soil, but Aum allegedly stole it from a laboratory.

As a result Tokyo is hurrying to identify which research and medical institutions possess dangerous viruses or bacteria, something on which it has no detailed data, Kyodo News reported on Wednesday.
According to experts, there is no law in Japan banning the cultivation or distribution of dangerous pathogens such as anthrax, but with a third person now diagnosed in Florida as having been exposed to the anthrax bacteria Japan is beefing up security and countermeasures against biological threats.
Earlier in the week the land ministry said it would increase protection around drinking water and other public services, while the health ministry held its first meeting at a newly established anti-terrorism headquarters to discuss the problems related to using vaccines for anthrax infections.
But the experts said once anthrax was detected it is very difficult to handle.
"There are no practical measures to prevent contamination," said Kanagawa University's Tsuneishi. "Once a contamination is detected, we (can only) provide correct information and stay away from the dangerous area.
"Vaccines will only be effective with full immunity after a few weeks." The IDSC's Okabe said if anthrax was introduced into the environment, it would continue to pose a threat for some time. "When sprayed in the air the bacteria dies. But when sprayed on the ground the bacteria remains in the earth and, as it is quite strong, it will survive for a long time." Bureau Report